Life Is A Journey: Uganda In Review

Here is my latest update. This is my last week in Bundibugyo as I am transitioning to Sudan very soon!

-Scott J. Will
World Harvest Mission
Uganda & Sudan

Let me live, that I may praise thee…
Psalm 119:175

Another chapter is ending and a new one is about to begin. My time in Uganda is ending this week and the transition to Sudan is fast upon me. My weary soul needs refreshed, and my mind needs to focus and reflect.

I’ve spent the last four months in Bundibugyo, Uganda - living, working, and mostly thriving, but sometimes merely surviving. I’ve spent some part of 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and now 2010 in Uganda. Cumulatively I have lived one year of my life in Uganda. Amazing.

I leave Bundibugyo on January 30. On January 31st I will travel to Jinja, Uganda for a five-day planning/vision retreat with the rest of the team from southern Sudan. During that time we hope to better clarify our role in Sudan and try to map out a more detailed vision of what our goals are personally and as a team. We will also spend time in prayer, collectively and privately, sharing our testimonies, and getting to know one another. The thought of having 1-2 pages of written goals for the next year of my life is rather daunting, as I have only spent 3 days in southern Sudan and that was two years ago. The rest of the team in southern Sudan has been living there for the past 4 to 12 months. I am the last person to ‘complete’ the team for now. I am slightly overwhelmed with the thought of packing up my life and saying goodbye to my friends in Bundibugyo one day, and mapping out the next year of my life in Sudan with new teammates the very next day. I covet your prayers.

My role in Uganda has been fluctuant, ever-changing, yet some things remaining the same. I work primarily in the pediatric ward, but I have also spent time in the outpatient department. I’ve invested a lot of time and energy playing with, teaching, and loving on local kids. Many hours of laughter, joy, frustration, challenge, and relationship have also been spent with local young men and adults. There are a slew of other things I’ve done, but here are some snapshot highlights of my life in Uganda:

PEDIATRIC WARD

The inpatient pediatric ward is an ever-happening place, with 15 to 35 patients on any given day. Along with nurse Heidi Lutjens, Dr. Jennifer Myhre, and Ugandan nurses, I do rounds every weekday morning, trying to restore health to a fragile population. Malnutrition, diarrhea, respiratory tract illness, tuberculosis, HIV, burns, and skin infections are only a few of the diagnoses we see every day. I’ve witnessed many lives lost in that ward, but more often glimpsed miraculous recoveries and rejoicing parents when their child is discharged home.

On Saturdays I bring food to the pediatric ward, distributing chapattis, avocadoes, or mangoes to each patient. I really like to do this, as I feel more like a friend rather than a clinician on these days. I am somehow able to give them something small and nourishing, even when I don’t have the medical interventions necessary to help them. I also take pictures on Saturdays – the families love to see their photos!!! I have really enjoyed the pediatric ward, though at times I get frustrated with the lack of staff commitment, or lack of supplies, or lack of the medicine and interventions necessary to save a child’s life.

Please pray for the staff of Nyahuka Health Center and all the patients seen and treated there every day – that God would be ever present in life and death, that drugs would be available when needed, and Christian leaders would rise up to encourage their fellow staff.

LOCAL CHILDREN

A Ugandan friend recently told me that Bundibugyo has one of the highest birth rates in all of Uganda. That says a lot, as the average Ugandan woman has given birth seven times! There are kids everywhere around here – kids longing to play, craving positive attention that they seldom receive. Few adults have time or energy to invest in the every day lives of their children, and many, if not most children around here have multiple ‘problems’ at home – alcoholic parents who beat them, a father who has multiple wives, a lack of food…the list goes on.

My attention has been drawn to these children, trying to love despite my lack of ability. Some days 30 kids or more will gather in or around my home – playing games, reading books, watching a video on my tiny computer screen, or requesting food and water. I also planned and hosted two special events - a fall festival and a winter party, with 50+ kids attending each one! I enjoy these children immensely, though I must fully admit, it has been exceedingly difficult to find time to myself as more and more children knock on my door. Unfortunately, some days my impatience overshadows my love. I need to remind myself that when the need is great but the workers are few, burnout can ensue.

Please pray for these children, that they would come to know the love of God despite unstable home situations. That I will find a balance between work, play, and time alone with God as I transition to Sudan. That my heart would continue to break for the injustice and poverty around, and that God would help me to know how to respond in a loving and caring way without burning myself out.

YOUNG MEN AND ADULTS

A highlight of my time in Uganda has been reconnecting with friends and making new ones along the way. God has given me a heart for discipleship and investing in young men and adults around my own age. I enjoy talking with these guys about life, faith, culture, and their futures. These guys are, or are quickly becoming, the future generation of men in Bundibugyo.

Every Friday evening I host 6-12 guys, ranging in ages 12-40 years old. They come for a time of fellowship, food, and movie. Much laughter always ensues! I spend much of the day cooking with some kids or young guys in preparation – an informal cooking class of sorts as we prepare a combination of Ugandan and American foods. I really look forward to Fridays, and I am so very thankful for these guys. Most of them also stop at my house throughout the week, asking for advice, a loan of some sorts, or just to say hello.

Please pray for me - striking a balance between being a generous friend and not creating dependency can be challenging. Sometimes the needs are so great and I cannot help meet them. I long for these guys to make wise decisions – about life, faith, marriage, sex, money, and their children. Pray that God would bend their hearts towards Him, and that they would grow to becoming loving husbands, fathers, and friends.

HOME VISITS - LIVING IN THE BUSH

A true joy of mine is visiting people in their homes. I enjoy doing this in the United States and the same holds true here in Africa. Relationships are a big part of my life, and people are well worth my investment. I have had the pleasure of spending time with several Ugandan friends, eating with them, sleeping in their homes, and living life with them - “living in the bush” as some of them say. I think these times are invaluable for deepening friendships, understanding culture, and exploring Ugandan lifestyle. The memories created are well worth any inconveniences, and the experiences obtained are priceless.

I’ve experienced much joy during home visits, but I am also tired when I return! Sleeping in mud homes while listening to the rats run through the walls, sharing a very small bed with another, bathing in rivers, having to go collect and carry water, washing clothes by hand, cooking every meal over an open fire, harvesting and pounding rice, having no electricity – these are all things that are part of normal life in rural Uganda. I am becoming more used to these things, but my American self is still happy to have running water, solar power (even if my solar batteries are old and don’t hold a charge any more), a propane stove to cook on, and my own bed (even if it is a foam mattress).

Please pray for me – that my transition to Sudan will involve lots of home visits, relationship building, and time investing in others. The current World Harvest Mission team in southern Sudan is four single females, one couple and their three children, and soon to be me. I desire to make friendships with Sudanese males and their families, but realize I must be patient before this can happen. I would love to find a “host” family that would allow me to live with them for a few days or weeks, trying to learn the culture and the language more effectively.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

Thank you for your continued support and prayers. I am not alone on this journey; there is a cadre of people all over the world prayerfully and financially supporting me. I am truly humbled and honored that you are part of my life, and that people would choose to support me and the work being done in Uganda and Sudan. God is moving in mighty ways in each of our lives, and my prayer is that as the people of Uganda and Sudan come to know God more, that you also would come to experience His love, mercy, and grace in new found ways in your own life.

We all have struggles, dreams, goals, challenges, hopes, and aspirations. Thank you for walking alongside me and encouraging me as I try to realize my own hopes and dreams, struggling to love others unconditionally, getting bogged down by tasks and personal expectations, feeling lonely and isolated at times, yet all the while insufficiently trying to follow God and make a difference in this world, not because I need to, but because God’s love and grace compel me onward to share the gift that He has given me. I am thankful that Christ has set me free from having to make a name for myself and prove myself to the world. I am in Africa trying to follow God, learning to love others, and learning to love myself; this is the life I have freely chosen.